This afternoon at Woodridge there was a great distraction that bought many people to the area, stopped trains running but also kept conversations short as many people wanted to see what was taking place.
As the afternoon began, conversations went ahead as normal and the team were excited to see a number of people responding positively to the Gospel. An early conversation was with Marley, who had quite messed up ideas due to years of drug use and the irony of some of the things she said was plain.
She argued that people get what they deserve, that the world the way it is and the things we receive in this world are because of the way that we act. Then later she went on to argue that she doesn't deserve her life the way it is.
By the end of the conversation she saw the universal guilt of humanity, the penalty our sin deserves and the only hope for us, Jesus Christ's perfect life, sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. She was also recommended to a local Church in her area!
An interesting conversation later was with Joanne. As the conversation first started her partner didn't want to listen and she kept encouraging him to. Sadly as the law was used to reveal sin he got frustrated and left. Joanne on the other hand came to understand the Gospel. She had been to Church a number of times but never understood the Gospel. Thankfully she was on the ball. She was asking good questions, understandings things and following up with responses that made sense.
It was very encouraging to see. She too was recommended to a Church. Please be praying for these two that God would use these two conversations to draw these ladies to Himself. That they would come to trust in the great God who provides salvation to the lost!
One other conversation that took place late in the afternoon was with a young man who once went to Church and said that one day he would "repent" and that God would let him into Heaven. When asked what he meant by "repent" he talked about changing his life and trying to live the right way. It was pointed out that this is not repentance, rather repentance is simply a change of mind about sin, which will result in trusting in Christ and what He alone has done to save, which together will lead to a life lived for God, not for sin.
It was important to point out that it is trusting in Christ that saves and the resultant turning from sin is just that, a natural response to salvation, rather than a requirement to be saved. He was challenged to consider it seriously because none of us know when we will die and stand before God. He didn't seem overly moved but was left with the strong warning that unless one trusts in Christ, they will pay for their own sin in Hell.
View previous Woodridge (QLD) report (19 March 2019)
Woodridge Team (QLD)
Meets 2-5pm every Tuesday afternoon at the Woodridge train-bus interchange on Station Rd.
Contact Ryan Hemelaar for more information.